The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game/Tactics/Lothlorien

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Why Play Lothlorien and/or Mirkwood

Pros

• Amazing shooting no matter which theme you go for
• Solid close combat, assuming you win the duel roll

Cons

• Low defense if you're going pure wood elves
• Traditional Elvish high point cost

Unit Analysis

like the high elves, wood elves carry elven blades, which count as both a normal weapon and 2 handed weapon (assuming you don't hold a shield). Additionally, Wood elves tend to carry wood elf spears, which act just like normal spears, but give you the ability to use the shielding rule, with or without a shield. wood elves, more than most any other faction, have access to elven cloaks, with make you invisible, meaning you cannot be shot, spelled at, or charged from any distance greater than 6" Another thing most all elves have in common is the 'woodland creature' rule which, depending on the local boards, can be a huge boon when it comes to moving through trees and woods.

Heroes

• Galadriel: With a normal caster stat line, sans 3 M/F and 6(!) will Galadriel is a caster that's irritating to deal with to say the least. Much like other major casters, Galadriel gets to spend 1 will free per turn, and, thanks to her ring of power, can reroll her fate dice making her that much more annoying to kill, despite her paltry defense 3. For a few extra points, you can lug her mirror to the field, which gives you the ability to restore any good hero within a few inches of the mirror's fate back to it's starting value, making whoever is nearby infinitely more irritating to finish off.

• Celeborn: Celeborn when fully kitted out is a melee monster with a lot of M/W/F and the ability to sling spells. On top of his own prowess, he unlocks the ability to upgrade galadhrim warriors and knights to have higher courage AND knows the aura of command and Immobilise spells, making him a great buff machine and excellent at sniping high fight/attack monsters and heroes.

• Haldir: Haldir, like his brother below, is a standard elf captain, but instead of being able to take a spear, he gets the ability to fire his bow twice per turn. All in all a solid choice of Hero if you're looking for a named hero to bring instead of the generic captain

• Haldir, Defender of Helm's Deep: Haldir, but in clothes this time. With a higher defense and his bow being brought for free, you get to bring a more ally friendly version of Haldir, though you lose the expert shot rule in favor of being under a banner when near Theoden or Aragorn and the ability to smack every enemy in the fight that kileld him once before he goes down.

• Rumil: Rumil has a standard statline for an elf hero for only marginally more than a captain. What really makes him stand out is the fact that he forces evil models fighting him to reroll 6's in their duel roll, making him irritatingly hard to hit.

• Legolas: While Legolas's core statline is nothing too amazing, Might and Fate of 3 paired with his special shooting rules make him a terrifying enemy to deal with. Legolas can either shoot 3 times per phase as normal, or he can make 1 shot that ALWAYS hits, no matter if the target is in close combat or has a bunch of "in the way" rolls between him and legolas. with an elf bow base, and the ability to buy a horse, cloak, and armour if you feel like running him to close to enemies, Legolas is a great addition for a comparativley low point cost.

• Thranduil, King of Mirkwood: Legolas's Greedy Father. Addorable, with a passable stat line, Thranduil is a neat choice for an elf list. With a built in cloak, blade, and bow he's nothing to take lightly. Pair that with his 2 one-time spells and the ability to give any wood elf a fight value of 5 and shooting that hits on 2's for a few points and you have a solid support hero as well.

• Wood elf Captain: Though softer than the other elf captains, the wood elf captain makes up for it in variety of ranged weapons, and the ability to take an elven cloak to make him harder to deal with until someone gets close to him.

• Galadhrim Stormcaller: Pound for pound identical to his high elf cousin. he has theoretically unlimited will (as on any 6 during a casting attempt, he counts as not having spent any will at all). with a support spell and a "move enemy models" spell, he is a good supporting hero, so long as you keep him out of close combat.

• Galadhrim Captain: Just like the other captains, he is the baseline for the rest of the faction. with access to Defense 7, a high fight, and solid choice of wargear, he is not someone to treat at lightly you would captains of other races. all in all a solid choice.

Troops

• Wood Elf Warrior: The squishy elves we all know and love from D&D. with access to multiple shooting weapons, elven cloaks for durrability, and better spears than other races, these guys make great second-line infantry as well as wonderful skirmishing units due to the cloak buffs. It is important to not that going all out with cloaks and bows makes these guys extremely expensive, so gear wisely.

• Galadhrim Warrior: your better front line elf infantry. with elf-standard defense 5, and the normal elf equipment they are a solid core troop. they should avoid spears (the wood elves like them more) unless you're running a pure Galadhrim force, but overall good for their rather high point cost.

• Wood Elf Sentinel: Wood Elves with an extra attack and the ability to sing a song which buffs/debuffs nearby models. While their rules are amazing, their incredibly high cost of 25 points makes them not auto includes in lower point levels, but a unit that should really be considered for high point games.

• Guard of the Galadhrim Court: Gal. Warriors with pikes and heavy armour, with a hero level fight 6. These guys are amazing front line fighters, but even better second and third line supporting infantry to bestow that Fight 6 onto any allies or regular warriors infront of them. In addition to all of this, like wood elves, their pikes allow them to use the shielding rule, just incase they get flanked or dive into something too big.

Cavalry

• Galadhrim Knight: Faster Galadhrim warriors on faster-than-normal horses. Though they lack lance options, giving them an elf bow and upgrading them to guards through Celeborn means you have guys who can move 6" a turn and still shoot (albeit hitting on on 4's), meaning you can keep moving all game shooting and never be caught by basic infantry.

Allies

Historical Allies

The Fellowship:

Rivendell:

Rohan: